Group Names Country’s Most Endangered Waterways, Colorado River Tops List

The environmental group American Rivers just released its annual list of the top 10 endangered waterways in the nation. Topping that list is the once-mighty—but now beleaguered—Colorado River.

From this story on abcnews.com:Drought and demand are pushing the Colorado River beyond its limits — with the needs of more than 40 million people in seven Western states projected to outstrip dwindling supply over the next 50 years, according to an advocacy group’s report on endangered rivers released on Wednesday. The annual top-10 list by Washington, D.C.-based American Rivers points to a three-year federal Bureau of Reclamation study that warned last December that the river won’t always be able to serve all the residents, businesses, ranchers, Native Americans and farmers who rely upon it. Already, the Colorado River is drained of nearly every drop by the time it reaches Mexico, American Rivers spokeswoman Amy Kober said.

According to the story, the Colorado is called “the most controlled and plumbed river on Earth.” The river water is irrigated to nearly four million acres of cropland and provides drinking water for millions of people along its path, including residents of Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

The other rivers on the list include the Flint River in Georgia, the San Saba River in Texas, the Little Plover River in Wisconsin, the Catawba River in the North and South Carolina, Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, the Black Warrior River in Alabama, Rough and Ready and Baldface Creeks in Oregon, the Kootenai River in Montana and Idaho and the Niobrara River in Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

That’s quite a list. Although I live in Oklahoma, my father lives in Libby, Mont. on the Kootenai, and I grew up fishing its waters. I consider it my home river. Are any of your favorite or home waters on the list?